American entrepreneur Camden Hauge returned to the United States last month with plans to launch a business importing Chinese wine. 

But just as her first pallet of wine arrived in customs, President Donald Trump’s tariffs were threatening to derail the fledgling venture.

Trump has slapped the world's No. 2 economy with additional 34% tariffs on Chinese goods, bringing the total new levies this year to 54% and the overall tariff rate to 74%, UBS reported. 

Trump also closed a trade loophole that had allowed low-value packages from China to enter the U.S duty-free.

The import tariffs were "catastrophic" for the brand new business, Hauge told Reuters from New York City.

Hauge had been living in Shanghai for over a decade where she founded popular restaurants including the Egg café.

Inspired by the growing enthusiasm for Chinese wine, especially among her international customers, Hauge saw an opportunity to bring bottles from boutique vineyards to American tables. 

But the proposed tariffs, part of Trump’s escalating trade rhetoric, could make that financially unviable.

China on Friday (April 4) struck back at the U.S tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump with a slew of countermeasures including extra levies of 34% on all U.S. goods and export curbs on some rare earths, deepening the trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

“I’m trying to live the American dream,” Hauge said. “This is literally stopping that from happening.” - report from Reuters